Are you an employer that’s concerned about your people using drugs and alcohol in the workplace? Are you an employee who is concerned about other people’s drug or alcohol habits, and what it could mean to your safety? If you’re concerned about drugs and alcohol in the workplace, it’s possible you have every right to...
Category: Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous news
COVID and alcohol – what’s the story?
Since March 2020, when COVID restrictions started coming into force and lockdowns began to be part of the vernacular, there’s been a lot of speculation about Aussie’s drinking habits. Would we start drinking more, would there be more alcohol-related harms and what would be the impact? Recently, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) looked at...
Alcohol breathalysers – the gift that could save a life!
Do a search online for alcohol breathalysers and you’ll soon see that you purchase one for far less than you can shout a round of drinks at the pub. But do cheap breathalysers actually work? Will they provide you with an accurate measurement of your ability to drive a car safely and stay under 0.05%...
COVID-19 rapid testing in the workplace
COVID-19 has thrown forward some new buzzwords that until recently weren’t part of common vernacular. Words like “herd immunity”, “flattening the curve” and “roadmap to recovery” spring to mind. Now there’s a new buzzword to add to the list and you’re going to hear this a lot in the coming months, and that’s “rapid testing...
Action on ICE urgent
In a Sydney Herald Sun article, Australia’s peak medical groups have warned that the NSW government needs to take greater action on the drug ICE, as it says drug and alcohol treatment services are struggling to cope with demand. Commissioner of a inquiry into ICE, Professor Dan Howard SC, says the NSW state government is...
Drug overdoses hide in plain sight
According to a report on ajp.com.au, of the 2,227 drug-induced deaths in Australia in 2019, over 1,600 were unintentional. The figure was highlighted by the The Penington Institute in Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2021, which examined all drug-induced deaths in Australia in 2019. According to the article on ajp.com.au, drug overdose is a leading cause...
Cannabis in the workplace and beyond
Cannabis is so widely used and sometimes trivialised that we may forget that it still is an illegal drug. In addition, cannabis in the workplace or on our roads can have devastating consequences. It’s also a drug that can have devastating effects on some users’ mental health. Cannabis is illegal There has been plenty of...
New laws make drug and alcohol testing even more important
Early last year we published a post on new industrial manslaughter laws that were sweeping across the country, and what the laws meant for drug and alcohol management and testing in workplaces. Industrial manslaughter laws provide the means for states and territories to prosecute negligent conduct causing the death of a person to whom a...
Get back to life with COVID-19 rapid testing
With our two largest states in lockdown, businesses right across the nation are doing it tough and those that are still operating don’t have the luxury to wait for the end of COVID-19. As part of your business’ COVID-19 safe practices to curb the spread of the virus within your community, asymptomatic testing is essential...
Illegal drug use during COVID-19
Have Australians turned to illegal drugs to help get them through the COVID-19 pandemic? That is just one of the answers being asked by a study called Australians’ Drug Use: Adapting to Pandemic Threats. The Australians’ Drug Use: Adapting to Pandemic Threats (ADAPT) Study is exploring the short and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the...